"The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end
may also be the beginning."
-Ivy Baker Priest
8/20/10
The Full Monty
Joseph Campbell tells of the period of time in which he studied ALL the iconography in Chartres Cathedral. After pretty much becoming a regular fixture, the man whose job it was to ring the bells invited him up to ring the bells with him. Campbell said it was one of the most exciting experiences of his life. On the way down, the bell ringer asks him if he wants to see where he lives. Campbell, of course, eagerly says yes, and is led in the middle of the choir stalls, “behind the Madonna” and through a door where this man’s space was. A desk, a tiny lamp, a small bed. Campbell said of this man that “he was living in the midst of his meditation.”
I have been thinking about the DECISION part of being reunited with Chris. The part where I knew what would sometimes come would hurt. And the part where I knew what the end would be. I believed what I believed. I believed in the power of friendship. The possibility and the potential. I believed in the love I knew and had known. I believed in the love given and received by others. I believed that one does what one is able where one is.
Chris led me through the door behind the choir stall. He allowed me to live my meditation. The key ring I carry is engraved with a quote about what is seemingly the end is just the beginning. I have been carrying it for months now, but I do not carry it because of any sense of the mystical. I carry it because it reminds me to think about it. To think about the energy that is left dormant. My friend is gone. There are hours a week where he used to be. What direction will I move in? What will fill my time and utilize my resources? How will I live in the midst of my meditation?
The Full Monty
Joseph Campbell tells of the period of time in which he studied ALL the iconography in Chartres Cathedral. After pretty much becoming a regular fixture, the man whose job it was to ring the bells invited him up to ring the bells with him. Campbell said it was one of the most exciting experiences of his life. On the way down, the bell ringer asks him if he wants to see where he lives. Campbell, of course, eagerly says yes, and is led in the middle of the choir stalls, “behind the Madonna” and through a door where this man’s space was. A desk, a tiny lamp, a small bed. Campbell said of this man that “he was living in the midst of his meditation.”
I have been thinking about the DECISION part of being reunited with Chris. The part where I knew what would sometimes come would hurt. And the part where I knew what the end would be. I believed what I believed. I believed in the power of friendship. The possibility and the potential. I believed in the love I knew and had known. I believed in the love given and received by others. I believed that one does what one is able where one is.
Chris led me through the door behind the choir stall. He allowed me to live my meditation. The key ring I carry is engraved with a quote about what is seemingly the end is just the beginning. I have been carrying it for months now, but I do not carry it because of any sense of the mystical. I carry it because it reminds me to think about it. To think about the energy that is left dormant. My friend is gone. There are hours a week where he used to be. What direction will I move in? What will fill my time and utilize my resources? How will I live in the midst of my meditation?
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